


Best of Three

by scarletmanuka



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Huddling For Warmth, LITERALLY, M/M, Rodney is hot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-11 11:50:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20545706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletmanuka/pseuds/scarletmanuka
Summary: Stuck on a frozen wasteland during a storm, the team must huddle for warmth. John and Ronon fight to be the one to get to snuggle with Rodney, who gives off heat like a minature sun.





	Best of Three

The storm hit when they were a few klicks from the gate, ice and snow and a wind more bitterly cold than anything John had encountered in Antarctica. 

“Sheppard, we’re not gonna make it through this,” Ronon called, his voice being whipped away by the wind.

John nodded glumly and looked around but there was nothing that offered even a hint of protection from the elements. “Let’s set up camp and bunker down for the night,” he decided, and with teeth chattering, his team did just that.

They’d found Gelida in the Ancient database, hints of a lab where there had been a team developing weapons to fight the Wraith and so of course they’d come. The ‘gate was deep within a cave system, not only to prevent outsiders being able to access the planet via a small craft (such as a Wraith dart) but also to ensure that the ‘gate wasn’t swallowed by snow. Gelida was a frozen wasteland, and the only reason John had been able to come up with as to why the Ancients had put a lab here in the first place was because the planet was essentially uninhabitable and so there was no reason for the Wraith to come calling. As an added precaution, the Ancient’s had built the lab ten kilometres from the ‘gate, which had likely added to the deterrent, but of course, the Lanteans were stubborn and had gone anyway. 

They’d found the lab, or what was left of it, after hiking for five hours, the frozen landscape reducing them to a crawl. The millenia had not been kind to the lab, the elements essentially destroying it, leaving behind only a faint energy signature which hadn't equated to anything they could use. Rodney had managed to gain access to a half-frozen control console and had downloaded whatever he could but until they got back to Atlantis, he wouldn't know whether or not the data was useable or useless. They’d decided to head back so they could make the ‘gate before nightfall, but the storm had come up from nowhere, trapping them on Gelida.

Once the tent was erected, they crammed inside it and Teyla got to working on zipping together two of the sleeping bags while the others used their packs to weigh down the edges of the tent as added ballast against the strong winds. One sleeping bag could fit two people squished in close, which was what was required when huddling for warmth, and so two of them zipped together snugly accomodated the whole team. They’d needed to sleep like this often enough that they had a routine now, any embarrassment of being half naked and wrapped up together long faded in the shadow of doing what needed to be done to survive. Once the extra large sleeping bag was ready, Teyla and Rodney immediately began stripping out of their wet outer garments, down to their underwear. Rodney got into the sleeping bag, followed by Teyla and he opened his arms and she quickly huddled up to him. He then glared up at the others, and demanded, “Why the hell are you two still standing about in the cold? Get in!”

Ronon eyed John warily. “Best of three?”

John nodded. “That’s the rules.”

“On three. One, two, three.”

They opened their fists at the same time, palms flat and John swore. “You always go rock.”

“And you know that so now I don’t,” Ronon said from between teeth gritted against the shivers coursing through his body.

They went again and John heard Rodney huff and they reached another stalemate, both choosing scissors this time. “For crying out loud, you’re being ridiculous!”

“You know they will compete to be the one that gets to sleep next to you,” Teyla mumbled against Rodney’s chest. “It’s tradition now.”

“Yes, well, as flattering as it is that they fight over who gets me, it would be nicer if it was for some other reason than the amount of body heat I put out.”

The third round also ended in a draw and John knew that they would both freeze to death before anyone got the upper hand. “This isn’t working.”

“Arm wrestling?” Ronon suggested.

John eyes the massive biceps of the runner and then suggested, “Prime or not prime?”

Ronon snorted. “Not likely.”

“We could draw sticks for it? Longest wins.”

“You see any sticks around here?”

John deflated and drew into himself a little, his extremities beginning to hurt now from the cold but unwilling to give up the chance to be the one who got to sleep next to their very own miniature sun. “Um…”

“I’m thinking of a number,” Teyla announced, amusement in her voice, “and the closest to it gets to cuddle with Rodney instead of me.”

“Which is a phrase that totally destroys both of your manly heterosexual personas,” Rodney added. “I doubt Kirk would ever had ignored the chance to cuddle with the hot alien babe.”

John figured that if Kirk was freezing his balls off, he’d choose Rodney too, but he kept to himself that he’d personally prefer Rodney to Teyla any day. Sure, he flirted a lot with women, but that was really all he ever did, since he’d come to the conclusion years ago that he was in fact gay. It had been the main reason behind his marriage breaking up, since he could no longer lie to himself, but unfortunately (thanks to the military’s strict views on the matter) he had to continue lying to everyone else. He just had to be careful that the growing attraction that he had for his team mate didn't become obvious to everyone on Atlantis. Now that they were back in contact with Earth, those annoying regulations couldn't be ignored.

“Forty seven,” Ronon said, rattling off the number.

Knowing that it would piss the runner off, John smirked and said, “Forty eight.” It did in fact earn him a glare but only a half hearted one as Ronon was shivering hard enough to cause his dreadlocks to bob about. 

“I was thinking of four thousand, eight hundred and three,” Teyla told them, “so the Colonel wins. Congratulations, _ now would you both please get in the damn sleeping bag!” _

John fist pumped and then got out of his wet clothes, laying them over his pack to dry as much as possible. Ronon wriggled his way into the far side of the sleeping bag, the rules being that whoever got to sleep next to Rodney was the last one in as they had to pile the remaining two sleeping bags on top of the team. Once that was done, John slipped inside and zipped up the bag, then shuffled over until he could press himself firmly against Rodney’s back.

He sighed in relief at the immediate warmth, even as Rodney yelped as John’s cold hand brushed his side. Feeling guilty, he jerked his hand away and stuffed it under his armpit, hoping that it would warm up soon. He felt Rodney reach back and grope blindly in the dark until he snagged John’s arm and he pulled it around him, placing it flat against his stomach. Teyla shifted about so John’s icy fingers weren’t touching her but Ronon had wrapped his arms around her so she was bracketed on both sides by warm bodies. 

Slowly, bit by bit, they all defrosted and began to warm up, but John’s fingers remained cold. He debated removing them, not wanting to make Rodney cold, and when he had decided to do just that, Rodney’s hand slipped over his and curled his fingers loosely around John’s. He froze, wondering what it meant, if anything at all, but then Rodney made a snuffling little noise that was his version of a snore and John realised that his team mate was asleep and not doing anything deliberately. It took him a long time to fall asleep after that, but it wasn’t the wind or the ice or even Ronon’s much louder snores that kept him awake. It was the hope that had bloomed in his chest that perhaps on a subconscious level, Rodney had done it deliberately.

When John woke the next morning it was to find that Rodney had rolled over in his sleep during the night and the two were lying chest to chest in an intimate embrace. One of John’s knees had slipped between Rodney’s and a heavy arm was slung over his ribs and was holding him tight. His face was pressed close against Rodney’s throat and he could feel the flutter of the man’s pulse against his cheek. It was not only warm and comfortable but he felt safe and cared for, things that John hadn't felt in a very long time. Deciding not to break the embrace, he closed his eyes with the intention of just enjoying the sensation for as long as he could.

He felt it when Rodney woke, but instead of pulling back like he'd expected, Rodney just yawned, stretched a little and then his arm was back, slipping over John’s hip and tracing small patterns on his bare skin above his boxers. It felt nice but in such close quarters, there was risk of things getting awkward, quickly. “Rodney?” he whispered, not wanting to wake the others.

“Mmm?”

John didn't really know what to say, and couldn't face the possibility of rejection. “I think I might get up,” he settled on.

“Mmm, no, I don’t think so,” Rodney murmured, and then his hand was leaving John’s hip, finding his hand and linking their fingers together once again. Rodney drew their joined hands up, pressed a kiss to the back of John’s knuckles and then he held their hands between their chests. “You might have won the right to sleep next to me but I get the right to decide when you get up and right now, you’re not going anywhere.”

“Oh.”

“In fact, I don’t think I’m going to let you go anywhere for a long time. Maybe forever.”

“Oh.”

“That a problem? Cos I’m happy to fight you for it, best of three.”

John shook his head and snuggled in closer, realising that despite his teasing about being Kirk, Rodney must have seen John’s truth after all. “No, no problem at all,” he replied, unable to keep the smile off his face. "You've got me, best of one."


End file.
